


Alone Together

by perceptivefics



Series: A Series of Shoulders [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Humanstuck, Mentions of alcohol, Mentions of prescription medication used as directed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-04 02:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10981449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perceptivefics/pseuds/perceptivefics
Summary: Kankri knows she's upset and has learned not to ask too many questions.





	Alone Together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ChasetheSun2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChasetheSun2/gifts).



> Part of an eventual hurt/comfort series I think, but inspired initially by stuff played out between myself and @ChaseTheSun2 on cherub. This one's for the one with Kanny and Meenah.
> 
> For headcanon reference, Kankri is South Asian and I believe Meenah is Greek/has Greek heritage, as I recall.

He awoke first to the sound of his apartment door rattling open and shut, like the person who walked in couldn’t be much bothered with volume; yet they were mostly silent as they padded through the house. Kankri blinked blearily in the dark in his room, a heavy medicated fog of sleep still sitting hunched on his shoulders, telling him no, you’ve slept too little this week, go back to dreaming. And at first, that was just what he intended to do: he closed his eyes again, buried himself under the covers, and gave falling asleep another go.

 

Except his unexpected guest was prodding around for something in his kitchen at intermittent periods, then pacing up and down the hall outside. Not noisy, but all movement involved noise of some manner or another, and his apartment wasn’t sound-proofed well enough to absorb even the sounds of his own footsteps when he was alone. Kankri heard a set of keys clatter to the sink in the hall bathroom and peeled his eyes open with a soft sigh. It was when he caught a flash of long, dark, curly hair that he opted to sit up and stumble his way into the hall, groaning.

 

“Meenah?” He called, voice deep with fatigue as he rubbed his eyes, leaning on the door frame of his bedroom. Kankri saw light spilling into the hall from the bathroom and shadowy movements from inside; the door opened up a hair more and the lady of the hour stuck her head out. It took him a minute to take in the sight of her with how tired he was, but it occurred to Kankri as he squinted in the dark that her eyes were a bit puffy, and it looked like she’d been trying to hide the evidence with her magic supply of cooling face wipes and all the other beauty products she kept in “her” bathroom. (It was the guest bathroom, but usually, she was the only guest Kankri had on a regular basis.)

 

Meenah sighed at him from the bathroom. “Sorry, sugar. Didn’t mean to wake you,” she grumbled. She over-enunciated, which meant alcohol was involved. He struggled to pay more attention through the haze of sleep medication and waking up at two in the morning. “Go back to bed if you’re tired.”

 

“I’m awake now.” Kankri replied, dismissing the notion with a yawn behind his hand. “What happened?”

 

“Nothin’.” Meenah said stubbornly, removing the decorative pins and baubles from her hair and setting them on the sink one-by-one.

 

Christ. She had to be _very_ sore about something if she wasn’t discussing it with him. Kankri mumbled, pinched at the bridge of his nose, and pointed out: “Well, it must have been _something._ ”

 

“Oh, it was somethin’ alright.” Meenah growled at her reflection in the mirror. “It was somethin’ stupid and petty and asinine and completely full’a ship. Shit. Full of _shit._ ” Kankri caught a flash of bitterness he’d only ever seen directed at himself once or twice before since their relationship started. That narrowed the pool of possibilities quite a bit; there were only a couple of people he knew who could vex her into such a state. So it was less a _something_ and more a someone, then.

 

“How much have you had to drink?” Kankri asked.

 

“Not enough,” said Meenah, tousling her hair down where she’d gathered up half of it into an updo.

 

“...Okay,” Kankri muttered. “Then I would rather you not continue the trend if you’ll be staying over tonight, if it’s all the same to you.”

 

She had already changed into her pajamas, apparently, and exited the bathroom with her long hair spilling down her shoulders, all her fineries of the evening removed. Meenah’s face was still carrying evidence of earlier crying, including a red rim around her eyes that the cooling wipes hadn’t quite taken care of. “Told you, I ain’t had enough.”

 

“Fine. Then I’m staying up until you go to bed.”

 

Meenah gave him a look. “You had your pills tonight?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Well, then it ain’t like you can drink with me, sugar.”

 

“I don’t have to.” Kankri insisted, “Maybe I just want to keep you company.”

 

“Kanny, I really just wanna drink and be alone and watch Bones,” Meenah complained. “It’s been a night. And I don’t wanna talk about it.”

 

“You could have done that at your house,” Kankri pointed out. “Why did you drive all the way across town to my apartment if you just wanted to drink in the dark?”

 

“I said I don’t wanna talk about it!” Meenah’s shoulders went tense. Kankri looked her over again, assessing. He wasn’t mad - she looked guilty as it hit her she’d just snapped at him, but not a hint of displeasure crossed his features. And then it clicked.

 

“This happened at your house, didn’t it.”

 

Meenah didn’t say anything, but she did purse her lips, begging him silently not to dig at the wound. But Kankri was on a roll now that he was putting the pieces together, it seemed. “You had someone over at your house and they did something to upset you.”

 

“Kankri, can we not?” she sighed. “I’m so fucking tired.”

 

They exchanged glances for a moment or two, Kankri blinking slowly at her as he started to fight off the last haze of sleep at last. Who knew how long that would last, though. But even if it was only for a few moments, Kankri planned to use them for Meenah. His shoulders slouched and his head lolled in a tired nod.

 

“Go…” he gestured down the hall. “...Set up on the couch. I’ll be there in a minute.”

 

“Sugar.” Meenah said, “You don’t have to stay up on my account. I shouldn’t’ve woke you, I’m sorry.”

 

“I’m staying up.” Kankri told her, determined. He shrugged and added, “If I fall asleep on the couch, you can just use me as a pillow.”

 

“I’m not gonna be doin’ much,” she pointed out. “I’m useless for company right now.”

 

“Nonsense. I was just thinking about you before I went to bed earlier.”

 

That wasn’t a scripted response, which was the reason why it immediately cut through the frosty stubbornness Meenah was hiding behind. Her face warmed up, her features softened, and she looked like she might cry again. She _wouldn’t,_ but even if she did, at least this time it would be due to the fact that she was terribly endeared to Kankri’s sentiment.

 

“But whatever bottle you have sitting on my coffee table, I’m pouring it out, and you’re having water the rest of the night,” he insisted. (That was somehow just as endearing. It was one of the ways he showed that he cared.)

 

“Not even a little sip?” Meenah tried. And Kankri took that as a good sign, because if she was joking, there was hope for the next morning to be a little better.

 

“No.” He scolded lightly, “No sips. Only drain.”

 

Meenah smiled at him. She walked up to Kankri, cupped her hand to his jaw, and gave him a kiss. Kankri tasted alcohol strong enough that he wondered how possible it was to get contact inebriation from such a gesture, but he returned it all the same. “Thanks, Kanny.”

 

Kankri let his forehead touch to hers, eyelids fluttering as he felt medicated sleep rearing its stubborn head again. “Love you, too,” he hummed. Meenah ended up walking with him out into the living room and pouring out the rest of her wine herself while Kankri curled up on the couch. She joined him minutes later, television playing at a low volume while he buried his fingers in her hair, separating the strands and making long braids as she rested her head on his chest. Kankri was asleep before the first episode they watched was even over, but Meenah already felt better about her prospects all the same.


End file.
